This Picture Says It All!

We keep making headway on the house and Fintan is helping whenever he can. Sleeping is still going pretty well (yay!) but we think he may be teething again.

I saw this pic on Jeff's phone last night and just cracked up! His enthusiasm for the watermelon is too funny. I can't help but imagine Fintan singing: "People let me tell you 'bout my best friend-he's a warm-hearted person who'll love me 'til the end.." haha!

Helping unpack!


Playing in the paper.


Having Fun!


Yay! Fun times!

Watermelon Love and Another Good Night!

Fintan had a pretty good night last night. Woke up once and fussed for a few minutes, Jeff went in to reassure him (not pick him up, but to lay him down and rub his back) and he went back to bed. Nice! Last night he slept from 6:45-7am! I honestly can't believe how nice it is to sleep all night! It's been YEARS! Also, Fintan has slowly been weening...his doing, not mine! During the day he's simply been too distracted to nurse so we've had to use bottles (I'm still pumping). Here I was thinking that it'd be so hard for him when I weened him before med school started! He weened me! Haha!

Yesterday we sort of took the day off. Did some small projects but we were exhausted and just wanted to recharge for today's projects. Fintan loved playing in the boxes we unpacked and he was really helpful in putting our chair together. He also fell quite in love with a watermelon we bought yesterday! It was so funny! He kept putting both his arms around it, kissing it, at one point, he had one arm wrapped around it and was smiling at it! Jeff and I were dying!

Fintan finding Mom!


He found me!


Yay!


Fintan helping mom.


What a good little helper!


His new best friend. This morning Jeff put the watermelon in the center of the kitchen floor and Fin hustled right on over to hug it!

He Did It!

Well, last night I asked for good vibes in the sleep department and it worked! Fintan slept the entire night through from 7:30pm to 6:30am for the first time!! He made a peep around 11:30pm for about 20 seconds and that was all. Woot woot!!!!

Uncles and Friends and Nana's Oh My!

When we returned home from our road trip my brother came for a visit from Rochester, NY. Great to see him and he was super helpful in completing some projects around the house. He hadn't seen Fintan since Fin was a a couple weeks old-needless to say, Fintan has changed a little bit. It was so nice having Uncle Jas around to rough-house with Fintan and for us adults to have a couple beers with.

My friend from New York, Ingrid, came to visit us too! She came last week for about 4 days and it was so fun for her to finally meet Fintan! He warmed up to her quickly and was stoked about the new sprinkler she gave him. We are too! Ingrid, Fintan, and I took advantage of some sunny days here in MN (as it threatened to rain every day) and went on walks, went to the Walker Sculpture Garden, walked around Lake Calhoun, and BBQ'd. Great visit.

Amidst all of our visitors, BBQ's, house work, etc, Jeff managed to find a job!!! Well, that's not exactly a correct statement, more accurately, the job found him. He is now the new Head Squash Professional at The Commodore Squash Club in St Paul. It's a small club essentially wholly devoted to squash and Jeff is a great fit. We're all very happy over here about this development!

Fintan has been busy banging himself up all over the place. He's trying to walk/cruise/stand-up on everything and frequently crashes. Sigh. He looks really beat up but honestly is such a tough kid that he bounces back remarkably fast. He has been sleeping pretty well but still waking up twice a night to feed (11pm and 3am). SO, we've been trying to drop the 11pm feed first by having Jeff go in and try to comfort him for a few minutes and let him cry it out a bit. Has been working pretty well. After the 11pm feeding gets replaced with sleep(!) we'll start on the next or who knows, maybe it'll just go away without us having to do anything...that's be nice!

We looked at a few more daycare centers this week. I'm beginning to wrap my head around it a little bit more but it still hurts our hearts. I actually had a bit of a breakdown about it this week, realizing how stressed I was about starting medical school the same time Jeff was supposed to start work and Fintan going into daycare full-time. I know rationally that Fintan would adjust and be fine, but emotionally, I just have a tough time with the idea of starting school and him going into full-time daycare. SO, Jeff and I decided to put Fintan into daycare part time to start in August and Jeff pushed his full start date back to September. That way Fintan eases into daycare and I can enter school with a relatively less stressed mind...haha, we'll see.

I was really sick all day Friday (flu) so my mom came down after work to help with Fintan so Jeff could work on the house. I felt better Saturday and Jeff, our friend Keri, and I hammered out house projects and my mom worked on the yard while Fin took naps. We're getting so close to being done with the kitchen! We removed wallpaper, filled holes, sanded entire walls, removed Formica 'back-splash,' thin-set walls, removed cabinets and sanded and repainted them and added new hardware, painted the kitchen, installed new hood fan, sanded and painted trim, changed the light fixture, and have begun installing new cabinets on an empty wall. Sigh-busy!!! It's really starting to look great though! Luckily my mom was able to come down and Keri come over or Jeff and I'd be WAY behind. Thank you ladies!!!!

Oh, and the neighborhood continues to be amazing. Baked goods from all directions, warm welcomes from all, people lending us baby toys, it truly has been better than we could have imagined.

Keep sending Fintan 'continue sleeping' vibes. More of the same planned for this week: working on kitchen, another daycare tour, playing with Fintan, etc. He melts Jeff and I every single day. Seriously, this kid is rock-solid good times. OH, he's waving 'bye-bye' a bit more regularly now (like when Jeff was mowing the lawn in Saturday Fintan stood in the front window waving at him...it was too cute) and he's eating beef, chicken, and turkey. He doesn't really care for turkey but is all over beef and chicken.

And I shouldn't forget to mention Jeff's first father's day! It was a bit crazy but I made him a delicious brunch (corn tortillas, lettuce, black beans, onions, avocado, eggs over-easy, cheese, and tomatillo salsa, bacon, and pancakes), had Finny wear a surprise "I Love My Daddy" outfit, and cleared everyone out of the house, made him sit down with beer in hand to watch the full final round of the U.S. Open (Go R-Mac)! I don't know the last time he watched an entire day of golf! He had a great day.

Uncle Jason and Finny B!

Ash and son in front of iconic (for Minnesota) Spoon-Bridge sculpture.


Walk around Lake Calhoun...the water wasn't even freezing! I guess The Cities really are different from northern MN!


The kitchen in it's transformation...Fintan helping Dad.


All of the wallpaper was off but it covered almost every surface-oy.


Fintan, Ingie, and his new sprinkler!


Kitchen painted, new light, base of cabinets painted, and window trim painted.


Keri and Jeff working like mad.


Almost there! Need back-splash and shelves but we're getting there!!


Fintan and Nana. Fintan in his Sunday best!


Nana bought Fintan and tree-swing and hung it from the maple tree in our backyard. He loves it!

LOTS to recap!

Our trip out West was fantastic: good to see family and friends.

We began our trip in Paso Robles, CA for the wedding of our friends, Julie and Teddy. It was a beautiful weekend and my first time to wine country. Fintan did OK on the plane ride out and was loved on as soon as we arrived. Jeff and I had arranged for a babysitter to come to the hotel both nights to watch Fin. The first night (Friday, June 3) we put him to sleep and when the babysitter arrived he woke up. We decided, after letting them see each other a bit, to let the babysitter do her thing. I, being the worried Mama bear, went and listened outside the door a couple of times; he was screaming both times. Jeff convinced me just to go and that Fintan would work it out but FORTUNATELY for me we forgot the car keys and had to go back in! Haha! I nursed Fin, he fell right asleep, and I felt so much better. Oy. The second night he stayed asleep the entire time the sitter was there. Friday night was the groom's dinner at a delicious restaurant downtown Paso Robles. Great food and good to see our friends. Jeff went home early and I went to the local karaoke bar with everyone else. Danced until the wee-hours, had tons of fun. Saturday we dressed Fintan up in his seersuckers and oxford and headed to the wedding. Jeff wore him in a baby bjorn so he'd be able to make a quick exit if needed :) Fintan did great during the ceremony. The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous as was the location. Teddy and Julie looked so beautiful and happy: so thrilled for the both of them.

Fintan's first trip to In-N-Out Burger!



Fintan doing his best Cee-Lo.


Waiting for the ceremony to begin-car shenanigans.


Roar!


During the ceremony.


The Bride and Groom now Husband and Wife!



The Fam.


Fintan is really into mustaches.


After the wedding we drove down the PCH through Morro Bay and then went to see our friends, Megan and Tony and their daughter, Lily. It was so good to see them! Meggy is pregnant again and looks fantastic. Lily is such a trip-walking, talking, signing! She's adorable and it was incredibly fun to watch Fintan and her play together. She also growls to indicate her displeasure and I thought it was HILARIOUS! Love her! We have not really seen Fintan play with other kids before and he was curious, friendly, and really sort of just observed and took it all in. Too cute. We all went for a hike, Tony cooked a delicious dinner, and had a great time together. Fintan was doing pretty well at this point with all of the new surroundings but was waking up more frequently (3-5 times a night).

Eating Chicken for the first time...he promptly threw it up...twice.


Out for a hike with Meggy, Tony, Jeff, Lily, Fintan, and the pups.


The Fam.


Lily and Fintan playing :) Too cute. He looks ginormous next to her!


We headed to Silver Lake, CA to see the Lang-Andrews Clan next. They have two little misters: Chance and Stellan (4 &2). They are adorable and gave us quite the glimpse into what our future might hold! They certainly are busy and fun. Fintan once again was in awe of other 'smaller' people and he really loved their toys. Jeff and I have made a conscious effort to keep toys to a minimum with Fintan but after seeing how much he loved to play with all of Chance and Stellan's toys and with Lily's too, we realized we may have taken it to the extreme! We played in the park, were fortunate to see Frank's sister, Suzanne, and her husband Dallas, the Chapman's came to visit too (Miles, Erica, Wyatt, and Emily), walked around, marveled at our kids, ate very well (per usual), and laughed a ton. Fintan was not sleeping well at this point waking up about 5-8 times night. Brutal! Poor buddy :(

Jeff and Stellan Bodhi hanging out on the floor.


Fintan LOVED hanging with the kids. Just in awe of them. Note his love of the truck.


Love this shot. My boys.


Wyatt, Chance, Stellan, and Dallas playing hockey!


Morning slow wake-up. The mamas and their boys.


The Boys.


Wyatt cracking Miles and I up with his amazing football knowledge. Seriously, Wyatt may know more about football than I do.



After our quick stops in LA, the family headed East to Calimesa to see Mama K (Jeff's Mom). We were pretty exhausted at this point with all of the traveling that we were looking forward to seeing Mama K and staying still for a few days. Mama K had her sister Joyce and Joyce's husband and daughter-in-law over for a lunch so everyone could meet Fintan. We also went and visited Fin's Great-Auntie Shirley and Great-Uncle David as Shirley had just had shoulder surgery and LOVES babies so we figured we'd cheer her up :) I think Fintan was pretty effective! He has such an easy nature and everyone loved meeting him. We went shopping at Target to finally get Fintan some real toys too! He loves his new trucks and he picked one out and the name of the car is Finn McMissile! How weird! We went on walks, cooked some good meals, and laid pretty low-key. Fintan was sleeping a little better but still not normal...the days were long trying to work through our sleepiness. It was fun to be in Calimesa and introduce Fintan to his Grandma!

Fintan and his Great-Auntie Shirley!


Jeff, Fintan, and Mama K at the pool


Baby Attack!


Fintan and Mama K pajama party!


We left Calimesa on Friday afternoon to do part of the drive to see Jeff's dad and Wendy. Since Fintan was struggling we didn't want to put him in the car for 6 hours straight so figured we'd just drive a couple hours and see how far we made it. As we neared Vegas we randomly decided to give Jeff's college friend, Kirk, a call. He was generous to allow us to crash with them on such short notice. Great to see the Hooten Family! We had good food, laughed about Jeff and Kirk's college shenanigans, and had some delicious margaritas!
Jeff, Fintan, and Kirk.



For the last leg of the trip we headed north from Vegas to St George, UT to see Pops and Wendy. It was so great to see them and finally have them meet Fintan! Fintan, despite his lack of sleep, was still quite the charmer. Easy to smile and friendly. Pops scooped him right up and they were instant buddy's. It really was funny how the entire trip Fintan wanted to keep an eye on GrandPops and crawl after him! We went for a hike, Jeff and Pops played a couple rounds of golf, and we ate tasty meals courtesy of Wendy. Fintan was having an extremely rough go of it by now waking up every 1-2 hours. I was in a perpetual state of hazy exhaustion and feeling quite concerned for the nugget. Finally, duh mom, I saw in his mouth his top two teeth coming in!! Doh! Totally dropped the ball on that one-poor buddy was teething big time! Sigh, I gave him tylenol and that seemed to help for his naps but he still didn't sleep at night...too much pain, I guess. Oh, and while we were there, besides cutting two new teeth, Fintan sporadically waved 'bye-bye!'

Digesting one of Wendy's delicious breakfasts.


Fintan enjoying the desert view.



Jeff, Wendy, GrandPops, and Fintan


Fintan making GrandPops smile


The Buckaroos on The Ranch.


During Fintan's toughest nights he would only sleep if I were touching him. Jeff didn't even realize I'd brought Fintan in bed with us until the morning!


Mama and Baby tired. Plane ride back to MN.


Random shot, but this is how Fintan sleeps now! Not with his butt tucked up into the air, but like a little boy all flat and laid-out.